Spotlight on Greatness 2019

As we reflect back on these first 3 years of Brewing Greatness, we realize that one of the best things along this journey (besides getting to roast coffee for amazing, like-minded people who also believe we can change the world!), has been working with some amazing, inspiring entrepreneurs! So, we couldn’t think of a better way to end our 3-year anniversary celebrations than to do a “Spotlight on Greatness” on 3 of our partners who are Brewing Greatness with us!

Chef Ivy Wolf | Ugly Cupcake Muffinry | Jacksonville Beach FL

Chef Ivy Wolf reached out to us when she was looking for a coffee roaster who shared her values (of high quality, sustainability, freshness, and making a difference!). To say she’s passionate, creative, and experienced is an understatement - she has a background in Psychology, a prior career in athletics as a professional Equestrienne, and a decade of culinary experience. During the past 5 years, Chef Wolf has refined her focus to fresh and healthy eating. She believes (as we do!) that eating well is the key to good health, and that doing so can be done in exciting, creative ways. She features fresh, local ingredients crafted with professional perfection... everything from the Bruffins to the Benedicts is absolutely amazing, with beach views and coffee to match! (Instagram @uglycupcakemuffinry). So, the next time you’re in the Jacksonville area, we hope you’ll give her a chance to delight you! Menu, hours and more at www.theuglycupcakemuffinry.com

Meghan & Stewart Mackie | N+1 Coffee | Winter Haven FL

N+1 Coffee started about a year ago, when the Mackies decided to add a high-quality craft coffee bar to their Bike Shop, and to their hometown! Their name was inspired by the idea that the ideal number of coffees (or friends, or bikes) is always N+1 (i.e. you can always have one more!). N+1 has now outgrown its original spot inside the Bike Shop and has now its own (beautiful - find them on Instagram @nplus1coffee) space next to the Bike Shop, and they’re open every day of the week! They feature an impressive Pour-Over menu, Espresso drinks (pulled on a state-of-the-art “Strada”), Cold Brew, loose-leaf teas, and locally baked pastries. They pick up freshly roasted coffee every week (yes, every week!) to ensure unparalleled freshness… and we’re already planning some Ethos Cuppings (aka. coffee tastings) there for this Summer, so stay tuned! More at www.facebook.com/nplusonecoffee/

Berna & Erkan Nar | The Market at Cafe Zuppina | Lakeland FL

We were introduced to Berna & Erkan through two of our amazing Ethos fans - who are also huge fans of their fine-dining restaurant, Cafe Zuppina (which, by the way, is the best restaurant in Lakeland - according to many local publications, and perhaps most impressively - over 500 reviewers in TripAdvisor). They are known for being “passionately committed to offering the freshest organic and local ingredients possible” and all we can say is that their level of care and focus on quality of every single ingredient is admirable - they taste-tested each of our coffee origins and blends against several local (and national) roasters, and on several methods (including traditional, sand-cooked Turkish coffee!). We were impressed with their level of professionalism, their depth of research, and honestly ecstatic when they told us they’d chosen us to be their roasters! If there’s a foodie paradise in Lakeland, this is it! World-class, yet fresh and locally sourced, Mediterranean food, craft coffee, Italian gelato, and French pastries by people who are deeply passionate, highly trained, and well-traveled (and it shows!). More at www.cafezuppina.com

We hope you’re ready to discover a new favorite place! AND… if you make it to ALL 3 before the end of 2019 - we’d like to offer you a FREE 1-lb of coffee of your choice completely on us (we’ll ship free too!). Just: (1) visit and take a picture at each place, (2) share on Facebook and Instagram (don’t forget to tag us - @ethosroasters), and (3) send us an email with your IG handle, your name, and shipping address… and choice of coffee!

We can’t wait to see your posts… and hear your thoughts on these amazing places!

Thank you for choosing to Brew Greatness in the world with us!

Jolian & Lisbeth

THIS IS WHY & you're invited!

Earlier this month, a super talented, super generous individual wrote a story about us… we loved it so much, we wanted to make it our first guest post! (there’s also a quick invitation for you at the end of the post - please mark your calendars for March 10!). Here’s “THIS IS WHY” by Jeremy Reyes:

“I WISH PEOPLE WOULD COPY US.”

“Please copy us,” said Lisbeth, in an interview with Brandspark. In a world of patents and trade secrets, a craft roastery in Lakeland Florida has set out to be an open-handed example of how to make a difference in the lives of small coffee farmers and coffee consumers around the world.

THE BEGINNINGS.

Both Lisbeth and Jolian were surrounded by coffee farms as children. Lisbeth grew up in Guatemala City drinking “cafe con leche” while Jolian grew up in Colombia’s “Eje Cafetero” (coffee-lands). Decades later, they both came to Florida where they met, fell in love, and decided to pursue a life where they could make a difference in the poorest regions of the world (who happen to have the best coffee).

It all started in 2016 when Lisbeth and Jolian flew down to a small town in Guatemala called Poaquil. They met a small group of farmers, each working hard on their own small plot of land. There, they saw a huge problem. “Coffee farmers are born into some really horrible poverty conditions that are really hard to escape. There is a lot of suffering. A lot of times just being here in America, it’s very hard to imagine the world that so many people are born into and the level of poverty,” said Lisbeth.

Children in places like Poaquil, Guatemala don’t have the opportunity to go to school. “It’s a cycle; If you are born there, your parents will bring you to the coffee farm because they are paid per pound and they need the money for the family. Once the kids are 16, they barely know how to read or write. So they end up just staying at the farm working for pennies per pound because that is all they know. And the cycle begins again.”

DOING SOMETHING.

Lisbeth and Jolian knew they had to do something. They didn’t want “likes” on a viral Facebook video only for people to go back to normal everyday life. They wanted to make a sustainable difference and contribute to change. So they brought back suitcases of coffee beans, raised right on the farm in Poaquil Guatemala and built relationships with those farmers and their families. “We roasted and sold the coffee right here in Lakeland” said Lisbeth. Now, they order 1,500 pounds of coffee every year from those farmers and pay them three times the market rate. The premiums they pay go directly to the farmer, bypassing corporations that pocket premiums and oppress farmers. In three short years, they have seen that small group of farmers grow from 10 members to 30 members.

Coffee production in these small towns like Poaquil drives the local economy. Ordering 1,500 pounds of coffee every year can change an entire community. These communities can now invest in more nutritious food, better schools, better healthcare, and a better future for their children. One of the conditions Lisbeth and Jolian has with the coffee farmers they buy from is that every single child has to go to school to get an education. These farmers are ecstatic to send their children to school, since they can make enough now to comfortably feed their family. Ethos believes this is key to creating a sustainable change and will contribute to breaking the poverty cycle.

BREWING GREATNESS.

Lisbeth and Jolian have a strong passion for fresh coffee made with excellence. They roast and ship the same day, something only a few roasters in Florida can boast. Every bag of coffee sold online is shipped within a few hours of roasting. At the Lakeland Downtown Farmers Market, they purposefully only make the amount of coffee they know they can sell, leaving no leftovers for the next day. When it comes to roasting the bean, Lisbeth and Jolian took us to their back room where they have high-tech machines that manage every technical detail of the roasting to insure the highest quality. Each batch of coffee is monitored closely, with every second of the process making a difference in the taste. Lisbeth is a food chemist, and spoke of many scientific processes that we couldn’t explain in a short blog post.

COMPOUNDING IMPACT.

Partnerships and collaboration is the life-blood of Ethos. Everyone from the coffee farmers to the coffee shops that distribute their coffee are vital partnerships. They partner with other cooperatives and companies to buy ethical coffee from towns in Honduras, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, and Brazil. They partner with local cafes, restaurants, and coffee shops to help distribute the coffee. “We’re not saying we’re going to change the whole industry, but if we can make a difference in this small town in Guatemala, this small town in Colombia… I think it compounds. I think the biggest impact we have is the example we are setting; other people around us are seeing it. This kind of thinking, if it spreads, it could actually make a difference.”

Not every company is on board with the Ethos business model though, especially with profit on the line. While the giants in the coffee industry would like people to think of them as ethical and globally responsible, Lisbeth has other opinions. “People actually think that [large coffee chains] are fair trade and organic and all these things… Less than 1% of the volume that they buy is actually certified fair trade and organic. And, I always say fair trade and organic is the least you can do. It’s the minimum. We can do a lot better than that. It’s amazing all the things they do behind the scenes, but most people don’t really want to know.”

Ethos wishes that more coffee companies and roasters would copy their business model. While most coffee producers and consumers love a good story, it comes at a cost. “We will never be the cheapest coffee you can buy; the environmental & human costs are too high. Yet, we want to combine high quality, social impact, and environmental awareness into the freshest, all-around best coffee experience money can buy!"

MOVING FORWARD.

Going forward, Ethos has just one message: “We are so fortunate. Not only do we have limitless opportunities for ourselves here in America, we also have the incredible ability to make a difference in someone else's life across the world.”

(Original: https://brandsparkcreative.com/blog/ethos-roasters)

YOU’RE INVITED!

To celebrate our 3-year Anniversary! On Sunday, March 10, noon - 4 pm, we’ll have coffee & a (huge, custom-made) birthday cake at the roastery in Lakeland! We would LOVE to see YOU and have an opportunity to personally THANK YOU (and hug you… yes, I’ll definitely hug you!)

We’ll also celebrate with an extra coffee sample (one for you, one for a friend) with every single box we ship in March! Plus, we’re going to Guatemala next weekend… and bringing back some more surprises!!! Words can’t express how grateful we are to all of you (so we’re trying to feed you, hug you, caffeinate you, and bring you some cool stuff 😉)

Thank you for choosing to #BrewGreatness in the world!

❤︎

Lisbeth

Happy 2019! | This is YOUR year!

We hope you’re having a great start to YOUR year! These first days of the year have truly flown by us, yet we wanted to take a moment and give you an update on our plans for 2019!

Our main goal this year is to make it YOUR year - to find ways to do more, and give more to you - the people that we get to roast for! We want to make sure you not just fall in love with the coffee - but with our mission to create opportunities for small farmers and with our vision of a world where no child has to sacrifice school (for a life in the coffee fields) to help their parents feed their siblings - that is our dream*! We know we can’t do it alone, and that for us to achieve that dream, we must become coffee worth sharing!

This year, we want to make sure we give you an experience worth sharing - worth sharing based on a particular coffee you love or a new tasting note you just identified… worth sharing based on the incredible aroma you get from a fresh roast… but mostly worth sharing because you can give other coffee lovers the opportunity to make a positive (social, environmental, life-changing) impact through something as seemingly small as the cup (or cups) of coffee we drink every day! And perhaps also worth sharing because of the related (bigger) conversation about how the largest impact we collectively have in the world is all about the things we buy (or don’t buy!) - as every purchase is a “vote” (with our dollars) for the world we want to see.

So we want to begin the year with a request - if there’s anything you’d like to see from us this year… please share! (💌coffee@ethosroasters.com)

We hope 2019 is YOUR year in every sense, and that it brings you the opportunity - and the courage - to pursue all your dreams,

Jolian & Lisbeth

* Yes, we’re big admirers of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr! Happy MLK Day!

PS. We just shared some photos and a video (on FB) from our Poaquil partners - they have some brand new coffee equipment thanks to YOU!

A last Thank You...

Greetings from Colombia! This last day of the year, surrounded by gorgeous coffee plants and landscapes*, we're reminded of the moment, just 3 short years ago, when Ethos was just a dream! We set out to build the company of our dreams, and feel that so far, we've succeeded beyond our dreams - as we never thought we would find such an amazing group of like-minded people who also believe they can make an impact!

So, this last day of the year, we just wanted to say thank you... for making Ethos possible... and for believing - and living - this dream with us! We hope 2019 brings you the opportunity to realize all your dreams!

From the bottom of our hearts,

Jolian & Lisbeth 

* Please check our Instagram - @ethosroasters, we have Colombia pics and videos we're not able to share as a blog post or in an email.

GRATEFUL FOR YOU!

Today, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, our hearts and our minds fill with overwhelming gratitude. We’re so grateful for this journey, for all the love, for all the lessons, and for this amazing opportunity to make a difference. Above all, we’re grateful for you!

We’re especially grateful to you today because it’s now been years (years!) since some of you first learned about us - and order after order, you’ve kept us learning, growing, and making a difference! In our endless search for more impact, perhaps we’ve discontinued a few of your old favorites… and you’ve been open to try -and fall in love with- new favorites! Perhaps we’ve made a mistake in your order, and you’ve given us an opportunity to make it right… and many more chances to roast for you again! You’ve generously taking the time to write a review, follow us, post pictures, share one of our posts, recommend us to your friends, or email us to say how much you loved your coffee! All these things matter. All these have kept us going. All these have led us here. You truly are the fuel that powers all our coffee roasting!

Thank you - from the bottom of our hearts - for the opportunity to keep roasting for you. Thank you for choosing to #BrewGreatness in the world every single day. We hope this Thanksgiving overwhelms you with gratitude and happiness,

-Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. This Thanksgiving, we’re focusing on the “giving” part - so we’re including a 🎁on all orders this week. Plus, this weekend (Fri-Sun) we’ll run our first THANKS-GIVING COFFEE SPECIAL - you can send a bag of Ethos ☕️ to anyone in the US for just $10! Finally, we’ll be posting pics and videos of our Roastery Experience on IG & FB so can all join us in spirit! ❤︎

You're invited...

Fall is finally here! And we couldn’t be more excited about cooler weather, and of course, the upcoming Holiday season!!!

We’re planning our first “Roasting & Tasting Experience” on Nov 23 and 24 (yes, that’s the Friday and Saturday on Thanksgiving weekend), and are truly hoping that you join us if you can make it to Lakeland either of those days! You can sign up here (until Weds Nov 21), yet we’re keeping our sessions to a maximum of 10-12 people per session - so we can give you the best experience possible - and it is first-come, first-served… so please, please sign up early if you’d really like to join us!

We also have another surprise for you! Our new Red Swan Holiday Blend is almost ready to make its debut… and will be launching exactly a week before Thanksgiving, on Nov 15th! (Thanksgiving is our absolute favorite Holiday… so you may get an earlier blog/newsletter post next month 😉)

Thank you again so much for continuing to support us, and for each opportunity we get to roast for you, to continue to learn and get better for you, and for all the love we get every day on social media… we’re really having some fun there (particularly on Instagram). Please consider connecting with us, and sharing your awesome coffee pics and favorite methods! You truly inspire everything we do, so please keep the inspiration coming!

Super excited, grateful, and looking forward to seeing many of you at the roastery in a few weeks!

Jolian & Lisbeth

HAPPY NATIONAL COFFEE MONTH!

I almost can’t contain my excitement as I’m writing this… there’s so many great news to share with you!!!

Sept 29th is National Coffee Day and we’re celebrating this year in more ways than ever:

(1) We’ll be kicking-off our National Coffee Month Special - featuring our 3 award-winning coffees at the 2018 Golden Bean North America Roasting Competition last weekend!: Poaquil, Crema, and Yirgacheffe (winning Bronze on Milk-Based, Espresso, and Pour-Over categories respectively). It’ll be available Sept 29th - Oct 29th (subscribers, we’ll plan on including these on your boxes this month, unless you have specific requests). This was our first time participating in the competition, and we decided to send these 3 coffees to get some good feedback on our roasting profiles with the new R-15. Honestly, we’re still fine-tuning our profiles, and aiming for that elusive “perfect roast” (please know we welcome your feedback and thoughts… as YOU are are ones we’re roasting for!), so to have all 3 of our submissions be awarded medals is just incredible! We truly owe it to the support of all of you who have made this journey - and this growth - possible… we’re deeply grateful and we’ll never stop searching for the most impactful, great-in-every-way coffees and doing our best to bring them to you as fresh as they get, and at the best value possible - that’s a promise!

(2) We’ll be giving away THREE TICKETS to Tampa Bay’s Coffee and Art Festival. You’ll get to taste lots of coffees from different craft roasters in the area and attend various educational panels on different topics… ours is called “Fair-Trade & Beyond: The Opportunity to Change the World through Coffee” - should be fun! Yet, back to the giveaway - the first ticket is for a lucky coffee subscriber (first subscriber to read this and email us - coffee@ethosroasters.com gets it!), a second ticket is for the awesome people who have liked our Facebook page, and a third ticket is for those following us on Instagram (FB and IG contests will run all day Sept 29th, and is as easy as commenting on a post… so please, please, follow us and participate… in both if you’d like 😉) AND

(3) We’ll be sponsoring & giving back at the Take Heart 5k - the largest fundraising event supporting Take Heart Africa - our amazing non-profit partner that supports widows & orphans in Kenya!

Finally, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all your support who is what continues to make this journey possible… and I really don’t think I’ll ever get tired of thanking you (or feel so grateful and connected to all of you, even if we haven’t met!)… because you’re really part of your journey now… and in the end, that’s what human GREATNESS is all about - not just about finding, but about pursuing & supporting a purpose beyond ourselves - one seeking to make the difference we want to see in the world!

HAPPY NATIONAL COFFEE MONTH! ❤︎

-Lisbeth

PS. We’re working on some great new additions, specials, and gifts for you for the Holidays… but I’ll leave that for the next post 😉!

RE: In THE NEWS | Coffee drinkers live longer!

On our last 'Re: Summer Series', we wanted to cover a topic that seems to be perennially on the news... coffee & health. While there's a lot of information (and misinformation!) out there, the great news is that the latest (highly reputable, peer-reviewed) research seems to be on the side of coffee drinkers!

That's right. 'Coffee drinkers live longer' was the main conclusion of the most recent coffee study* in the latest issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). They followed a group of half a million people over 10 years and analyzed the relationship between coffee drinking habits and mortality, and found coffee drinkers (even those drinking over 8 cups a day!) died at a statistically-significant lower rate than those who didn't drink any coffee. This was also true for Decaf coffee drinkers, suggesting the non-caffeinated components in coffee are responsible for the effect (something that would make a lot of sense, if you consider that is mostly phytochemical antioxidants!). If you'd like to get into the details, here's the link to the study. And while the scientist in us is really excited... we must also point out that this was an observational study... which means we can not prove that drinking coffee will actually add a few years to your life... but we can always have fun trying! (and make a difference!)

Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. A few news of our own - we recently received a "cease-and-desist" letter from another Florida roaster who had apparently registered a Trademark for "Florida Cold Brew"... so we'll be temporarily out of a Cold Brew Blend offering (alternatively, we'll be more clearly identifying some great single-origins for Cold Brewing... i.e. Poaquil & Huehue!). On a more positive note, the new roaster has given us some amazing flavor profiles, and more flexibility to do lighter roasts... we're working on our first-ever Holiday Blend that will highlight this new capability (i.e. a mix of lighter-roasted and darker-roasted coffees to balance vibrant and bold flavors) - we would love to hear your NAME ideas!!!

Finally, on an even more positive note, we have some news from our Poaquil Co-Op! Coffee growers from the whole region are meeting next month, and they'll be sharing with them their "success story" with us!!! They also said they'll try to do a video message for all of you who have (and continue to make) this all possible! Stay tuned :)

CITED REFERENCE

*Loftfield E, Cornelis MC, Caporaso N, Yu K, Sinha R, Freedman N. Association of Coffee Drinking With Mortality by Genetic Variation in Caffeine Metabolism: Findings From the UK Biobank. JAMA Intern Med.2018;178(8):1086–1097. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.2425

RE: COLD BREWING! | It's COOL chemistry + our recipe!

Summer is definitely here! And, while we still think the aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee is the best smell in the world to wake up to... we must admit a cup of Cold Brew on the rocks is our favorite way to cool off! So, we wanted to share with you some of our 'secret' knowledge acquired through lots of research & experimentation (a.k.a. "plant watering batches")... and hopefully give you all the tips & insights you need to make the absolute best Cold Brew at home!

First things first... what exactly is Cold Brew? The name (kind of) gives it away... it's coffee brewed with cold water, over extended periods of time. Please note, this is very different from hot-brewed coffee served over ice (that's Iced Coffee!). What makes Cold Brew so different is that cold brewing over (relatively) long periods of time favors the extraction of specific components, while hot brewing methods tend to extract all soluble components. Why? Because the solubility of different components is largely determined by temperature. Caffeine, for example, is only slightly soluble (~1-2 g/100 mL) in cold water, yet fairly soluble in hot water (~65 g/100 mL). Naturally occurring phenolic acids are also significantly more soluble in hot water (which means very little acidity on cold brews!)... yet sugars and larger components (responsible for sweetness & body) are still soluble provided enough time (but be careful... too much time and you'll begin extracting bitter components)!

Now that you understand the chemistry... it's time to have some fun making it! (we promise is a lot easier than understanding all that chemistry!). Here's our step-by-step Cold Brew recipe:

1. Mix 40 oz spring water (~5 cups) for every 8 oz of coarsely ground coffee

2. Steep for 14-18 hours under refrigeration (we commonly do 16 hours, but you can do up to 20 hours if you like a stronger brew)

3. Dilute up to 1:1 with ice/milk/water & enjoy (you'll have enough for 12 large cups) 

4. Keep refrigerated and consume within a week (8-oz batch is perfect for 1-2 people drinking 1-2 cups a day!)

Some of our favorite origins to Cold Brew are Central and South Americans... our Florida Cold Brew Blend is actually a mix of two Guatemalan beans at a medium-dark roast level, and was the 'winning' combination in our taste tests (and our best-selling Cold Brew at the farmer's market!).

Happy Cold Brewing!

Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. The new R15 roaster is finally up and running... and we couldn't be happier, or more eager to share it with all of you... watch out for pics/videos in our Instagram and Facebook over the next few weeks... and monthly tours/tastings starting in Sept! (sign-ups available online Sept 1st!). We're also working on some AMAZING new additions (including our first-ever Holiday blend!)

RE: FRESHNESS! | Why it matters? How can you keep your coffee fresh?

Summer is here! And we wanted to welcome it by launching our "RE:" Summer Series - i.e. posts intended to increase your coffee knowledge and bring your coffee experience to a whole new level! They're inspired by questions we frequently get... and we hope you'll help us keep them relevant and interesting by suggesting new topics!

This first one is on a topic we're particularly obsessed about - FRESHNESS! It is perhaps one of the most important quality attributes in coffee, and a major predictor of both aroma and flavor intensity! Why? Because the chemical reactions responsible for coffee aroma and flavor are the same that happen in baking (ever compared a freshly baked loaf of bread with one that's been sitting in your pantry for a week?) - the Maillard reaction (between amino acids and reducing sugars) and Caramelization (the thermal breakdown of sugar). It is these two 'non-enzymatic browning' reactions that transform green coffee components into delicious nutty, chocolatey, 'freshly roasted' aromas & flavors in our coffee beans! We've included links to their Wikipedia pages, for those who'd like to have some fun looking at the chemistry! (I actually had to memorize all the chemical steps for both of these for my PhD Qualifying Exams... they're THAT important... and also responsible for flavor in any food product that's baked, cooked, roasted, browned, dried, etc.... but I digress!).

Now, the tricky part is that all of the aromas (which are also key to certain flavors) formed in these reactions are volatile... which means they're lost over time. In roasted coffee, this loss is exacerbated by the natural "de-gassing" process, i.e. the release of carbon dioxide that has been trapped within the bean's cell structures during the last roasting stages, and slowly released for months after roasting. And while there's nothing we can do to stop this... there are some ways you can keep your coffee fresh longer!

The first is to BUY FRESH! - using your beans within a month of the roasting date will always give you the best experience! You can expect mild flavor changes after 6-8 weeks, and pronounced changes after 4-5 months (yet we hope your beans won't ever last you that long!). The second is to  GRIND FRESH - keeping your coffee beans "whole" means less surface area will be exposed to air...  leaving those delicious aromas "trapped" inside the beans for much longer! And the third is to KEEP COOL (but not in the fridge!) - keeping your beans in a cool (air conditioned), dark place (i.e. your pantry) and in a tightly sealed bag (i.e. the bag we ship to you is specially designed to keep your coffee fresh... only make sure the zipper is always tightly sealed!) will slow down de-gassing, and protect against flavor oxidation! Placing your coffee bag inside an airtight container will also provide some extra protection! Please don't place in the fridge or the freezer - as this will accelerate the de-gassing process (and your beans may 'absorb' some of the aromas/flavors of the other foods in your fridge).

Thank you so much for reading... we hope this was interesting & helpful... and please email us if you have any ideas/questions for our next "RE:" post!

Lisbeth

PS. Quick update on the R15 roaster... we finally got the electrical upgrade project approved, and the new panel was installed on our building last Friday... and are expecting Lakeland Electric to connect our new power as soon as this week!!!

RAISING THE BAR! | Can you help us?

We just added our first CAFE FEMENINO® coffees - Cauca (Colombia) & Andes (Peru) - both a step beyond Fair-Trade & Organic, and our new line of Organic loose-leaf custom tea blends featuring tons of fruits, herbals, and of course, amazing black and green teas!

It's been a busy few weeks sampling, roasting, tasting, & sourcing new coffees, elevating our tea program, and working on the installation of our second roaster... but today, as we finally get to put them in front of all of YOU... we realize it's been all well worth it! (If you're a subscriber, we'll honor requests for any of our new coffees and we'll be sending you a 'surprise' tea sample on your next box. We'll be including tea samples on online orders too!)

As we think about the next stage in our story, we're also thinking of ways to elevate both your subscriber experience and your online shopping experience - as they're the core & very likely the future of our business! We really, really, want to have one of the BEST coffee subscription programs in the US (maybe the world?) - offering unparalleled value, freshness, and flexibility/personalization. We also want to have one of the best online values on Fair-Trade & Beyond, Organic, freshly roasted coffee - we want to be so delicious, fresh, and compelling... that no other "shelf" coffee would compare! Yet, we know we don't have a monopoly on ideas! So, if there's anything you'd recommend we do to keep raising the bar, keep earning the opportunity to roast for you again, and become a constant source of pride & conversation with your coffee-loving friends... would you please share it with us? (coffee@ethosroasters.com)

Thank you for your support, generosity, and forever & always, for making this journey possible!

Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. Quick update on R15 installation - we had to special-order some parts for the venting system, which will hopefully be here next week! Should only be a couple more weeks after that before we start firing up our first roasts! We'll be adding VIP tours once we're up and running... stay tuned for dates & online signups (hopefully by our next edition!)

SCA 2018 | The Leap

We just came back from the Specialty Coffee Association's annual conference in Seattle, and couldn't be more excited... we just bought our second roaster! The GR-15 is a beautifully designed, compact, energy-efficient, high-tech roaster with a roasting capacity of over 100 lbs per hour!!! 

We're so grateful to all of you who have made this 'leap' possible - it's only thanks to your continuous love and support - through orders, referrals, social media pics, mentions, shares, and 'showing up' for us that we find ourselves in the (still a bit unbelievable) position of having to add a roaster to increase our capacity (and ability to fulfill orders quickly and ship within hours of roasting - an Ethos promise since the very beginning - and one we intend to keep!). 

Yet, the most exciting part of this 'leap', and our growing volumes, is our increased impact, i.e. being able to import directly the (relatively large) 'minimum volumes' that make shipping/logistics of direct-trade coffees economically feasible. We're surrounded by so much need, so much opportunity, and so much desire on the part of farmer Co-Ops to find a market that values their efforts... and thanks to you... that market is growing!

This leap is just the beginning... of a new chapter in our journey to #brewgreatness... and it would never be complete without you, or your ideas... so, we'll keep sharing #thenewethosroaster journey on Facebook and Instagram (it's currently on its way from Seattle), and plan some "Open Roastery" events as soon as it's up and running!

Thank you for Brewing Greatness with us!

Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. We're cupping some awesome Central American coffees right now... coming in May!!! (Oh yes, Huehue will be back!)

CELEBRATING 2 YEARS!

Ethos is turning TWO! And we have so, SO much to be grateful for, and to celebrate!

We still remember how scared we were when we bought our first 50-lb bag of Specialty, Fair-Trade green coffee to roast, and we thought to ourselves "if this doesn't work out... we may be drinking this coffee for the next two years!" (on the bright side, we'd picked a delicious coffee, so the idea wasn't too unbearable!)... fast-forward two years, and we routinely have days when we roast over 50 lbs! Thank YOU for keeping us roasting & allowing us to discover more amazing coffees!

Ethos began in a very intentional way - we've been focused on making an impact in the lives of farmers and on elevating your coffee excellence since the very beginning (#brewgreatness) - and that is what continues to inspire us every single day. We have so much to celebrate, yet our biggest achievement is perhaps our ability to source, for the first time, a full pallet of coffee from "Poaquil" in Guatemala - paying them THREE times (yes, 3 times!) the market price! (if you want to picture the economic difference that'd make... imagine your next paycheck triples... and stays that way for a whole year!). This one is our most impactful coffee yet, and we couldn't be prouder of bringing you such an outstanding cup! We've also added two new blends in honor of our Lakeland, Florida home - "White Swan" and "Black Swan" - both combine familiar chocolate/nutty coffees with more exotic fruity/floral coffees, for an experience that aims to showcase the best of both worlds.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be sending samples of our new additions, along with special Guatemalan souvenirs from our recent trip! (while supplies last). We also want to invite you to participate in our first "Social Scavenger Hunt" (now until April 15). To win: (1) follow us on Facebook and/or Instagram (or both - we feature different content on each platform!) (2) post TWO (yes, just two!) pics featuring/tagging Ethos (could be two different locations that serve Ethos, including markets/events, OR two different ways/places you brew or enjoy Ethos), (3) review us on Facebook or Google and (4) claim a FREE 8-oz bag of your choice OR Ethos Tote on your next order! (just let us know from which account did you post). 

If we keep going this way... in a few years... we might become an "overnight success"!

Thank you for making this journey possible,

- Jolian & Lisbeth

P.S. We're heading to the SCA in Seattle next month to get our second roaster!!! Stay tuned for pics on FB and IG!

We ❤︎ you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate you, cherish you, and love roasting for you! Every order, every review, every email, every follow/like/share/post/comment in social media makes us feel so loved, and inspires us to keep going, to keep trying to raise the bar, and to keep earning the privilege to be your roaster! 

We've received some great feedback and ideas based on our previous post... and found some really cool ways to reward you and love you back - like our new "birthday gift" code, "ITSMYBIRTHDAY" - simply enter it at checkout during your birthday month, and get a free 5-oz bag with any order. Plus, subscribers will automatically get a bonus 8-oz bag on their birthday month! 🙌

We're also working on a points-based reward system based on your orders this year - if you haven't already, please consider creating an account so we can see your history and reward you! The first wave of rewards will be released July 1st! 

Finally, check out our awesome new coffee additions - our new X-series "Red Honey", and new coffees from Rwanda, Papua New Guinea, and Brazil have all debuted within the past week! All Fair-Trade, Organic, and awesome - we'll also be happy to include a sample of any one of these on your next order! (just leave us a note). We've also added some gear - hats and totes - which we hope you'll love! 

Next month is Ethos birthday!... so stay tuned... we have some awesome surprises in the works...

Much love,

Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. News Channel 8 did come! 

Ethos 2018 | We have a dream!

Today, as we celebrate one of the most inspirational figures in history, we wanted to reflect and share with you our own aspirations and dreams for this year - we're so excited and would love to hear your thoughts (email us at coffee@ethosroasters.com)!

First, we want to continue on our journey to (one day) be recognized as one of the best coffee roasters in the USA - sourcing a wider selection of beans (including rare finds where both quality and impact are off the charts - i.e. our new "X Series"), and growing our business without compromising our freshness & small-batch roasting promises (to this end, we're planning to add a second roaster this year, which will allow us to serve a wider range of volumes - always roasted fresh, to order!). Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram as we search for #TheNewEthosRoaster!

Second, we want to keep improving your customer experience... and create our first loyalty program this year! If you haven't already, we would encourage you to create an account in our website - we added this functionality to make your checkouts easier (i.e. you can securely save your billing and shipping details), and give you the ability to see your coffee history, but we think we can also use it to reward your support! Please stay tuned... and send us your ideas!  We have also just created our first recurring Subscription program - you can choose the amount of coffee we send, and how often you'd like us to send it! There's no pre-payment, no need to re-order every time, and you can cancel anytime! Ongoing subscribers get our best value (as our new "X Series" coffees are included, plus exclusive sample previews of new arrivals and experimental blends), and we hope you'll check it out and let us know what you think! We've also kept 2, 3, and 6-month prepaid subscriptions, as they make great gifts!

Finally, we want to make sure we continue to grow our IMPACT - we're currently phasing out our non-Organic-certified inventory, so within the next 6 months, ALL Ethos single-origins will be certified Organic. We'll continue to source exclusively Fair-Trade or fully traceable Direct-Trade beans (if the price paid to the farmers is higher than Fair-Trade) and we will continue to go out of our way to find and support small-farmer-championing, women-inclusive cooperatives! 

Thank you so, so much for being part of our dreams and our journey!

Jolian & Lisbeth

PS. WFLA News Channel 8/38 is doing a segment on coffee and they've decided to come to Lakeland and visit the Ethos roastery!!! We'll be in the morning news on Mon, Jan 29, live at 7 am, and on re-runs throughout the day... we'll also try to get and share the link on our Facebook page if you'd like to watch online :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello 2018! We wanted to begin this year by thanking you for making 2017 the best year in Ethos history (yet!), and wishing you many new adventures, blessings, and delicious cups of freshly roasted coffee in 2018!

As we look back a year, we really couldn't have imagined what 2017 had in store for us - from the move to our own (amazing) location in Lakeland, to being honored with a prestigious Entrepreneurship award, appearing on prestigious local and regional publications (Tampa Bay Times, The Ledger, Haven Lakeland, and The Lakelander) and even on TV (Bay News 9 and local NBC Channel 8) - we really couldn't have imagined how an incredible year 2017 turned out to be! Yet, the most amazing and exciting thing that happens to us every single day is when we get an order from a returning customer - it really is the most exciting feeling in the world to get to do what we love, for reasons we love even more (the opportunity to make an impact in the lives of farmers and customers), and for people who are giving us the chance to do it again! We realize we haven't met all of you yet - but we want you to know we're truly and deeply grateful to you for every single time we get to roast for you! 

As we begin 2018, we're looking forward to so many things... from our first craft beer collaboration, with the incredibly talented team at Swan Brewing, to getting our first multi-store customer, Uncle Nick's Bagels, and adding our SECOND roaster this year (stay tuned... we would love YOU to be part of this!). Above all, we're looking forward to the chance to impact a lot more people (farmers, customers, and partners) and get closer to our long-term goal of creating a new sourcing model that goes beyond Fair-Trade, and building the most customer-centered coffee roastery in the world! 

And for each of you we hope 2018 brings you everything you're wishing (and working) for!

Jolian & Lisbeth

T H A N K Y O U

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Today, we just want to say THANK YOU for making Ethos Roasters possible! Each order, each review, each message, each follow, each like... every day you inspire us to do our best work, every day you remind us that we're not alone on this journey - and every day we're grateful for each of you!

Tomorrow we're hosting our first Thanksgiving Friday at The Roastery, and we'll be brewing a variety of single-origin coffees and loose-leaf teas for anyone who comes! This is just a small way to express our gratitude, and if you're in the area, I hope you'll consider joining us!

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for making this dream possible!

- Lisbeth

'TIS THE SEASON

I'm a few days late on our monthly blog post (my apologies)... yet it is for good reason - we've been really busy roasting and preparing for our debut at the Tampa Holiday Gift Market, as the winner of this year's Young Entrepreneurship Program! We have FOUR awesome new Fair-Trade Organic coffees joining our lineup for this event - Damas de San Ignacio (a women-grown coffee from Peru), Copan (Honduras), Chiapas (Mexico), and La Cumbre (Colombia), and which will be added to our online store shortly after the event (Nov 9-12). If you're near the Tampa Bay area, please come meet the team! (we'll have special freebies/offers for regular customers, so please let us know who you are!)

We're so excited about this Holiday season! It is our first one at The Roastery, and we really want to make it special for you, our customers - the ones who make everything possible! So... please mark your calendars for:

* Our first-ever THANKSGIVING FRIDAY @ The Roastery | Friday Nov 24, 9 am - 12 pm  |  Free tours and free coffee all morning - our way to say THANK YOU to all our customers for your support (we're not planning to have roasted beans for sale that day, as we'd like to focus on saying thanks and giving back, but if you're making a special trip to Lakeland and would like us to roast something for you, of course we can make it happen!)

* Our new Artisan Dripper Launch! | A ceramic dripper handmade by Guatemalan women artisans that will take your pour-overs to the next level... a very limited edition will be launching online December 1st! (Please check our FB and IG for preview pics!)

* Friday Coffee Tastings | Every Friday in December, 5-7 pm | Come relax and enjoy with us the coffees we've roasted that week, along with a beautiful view of Lake Beulah! 

We're also open to your suggestions on other events you'd like us to have! Please connect with us in social media and let us know!

Always grateful for the opportunity to be your roaster,

- Lisbeth

CELEBRATING COFFEE!

This month we celebrate coffee (National Coffee Day is Sept 29th) - the amazing drink powering our days and inspiring our conversations for over a thousand years! (Yes, coffee is really that old, discovered in 11th century Ethiopia).

As we celebrate our love for coffee, I wanted to take an opportunity to connect with you, our customers (current and potential), and thank you for making this dream, this leap, possible!

Coffee for us is so much more than an amazing drink... it is the way we've chosen to try to make a difference in the world. You may have not realized, but each of our coffee origins has not been selected based solely on quality and flavor, but also to support the people behind it - and to ensure their efforts are increasingly recognized and rewarded. This has meant saying "no" to high-scoring Specialty coffees that were absolutely delicious and attractively priced, but that did not meet our "Ethically Sourced" criteria (Fair-Trade or higher prices paid to the farmers, supporting a Co-op or small group of small farmers, and grown under sustainable methods or certified Organic). Quality and price can't matter if we're supporting well-funded coffee farms only trying to "grow their business" - no matter how high the quality or price, this is not ethically sourced. Our buying power is the single most powerful weapon each of us (businesses and individuals) has - and if we use it thoughtfully, we can support - and build - the kind of world we want to live in... and those who are trying to build it!

Thank you for supporting us, at Ethos Roasters - wholeheartedly trying!

= Lisbeth

PS. Thank you for reading! If you made it this far, you deserve a discount code! Please use "BACK4COFFEE" at checkout for 10% off your entire order until Oct 29th!